Biography

British musician born to Scottish parents living in London. For his 14th birthday, they gave him a guitar, little knowing that his life was shaped from that moment. As a youth he bummed around Europe and around home in London as a hippie. He joined an R'n'B band as a vocalist and harmonica player in 1963, playing gigs throughout England.

After playing in a backup band he signed with Decca as a solo singer. His debut single failed to make the charts. On 8/06/1964 he made a TV debut on "The Beat Boom" with the "Hoochie Goochie Men." Going through several other bands, he released another solo single in November 1965, also appearing in a TV documentary, "Rod the Mod." The bands kept shifting and the faces changing over the next few years as Stewart accumulated credits and experience. In 1970 his "Gasoline Alley" began climbing up the charts, and he started a 28-date U.S. tour on 10/01/70. Through the '70s his name became increasingly familiar along with his gravel voice, lawn-mower haircut and lean shape, until he was uncontestably a rock superstar by 1976.

In 1975 he set up permanent residency in the U.S., conveniently sidestepping a million-dollar tax bill in the UK.

"The Best of Rod Stewart" made No. 90 in the U.S. charts in May 1976. "A Night on the Town," released 7/10/1976, made No.1 in the UK and No.2 in the U.S. In November 1977 he made another major tour, and in December 1979, his "Rod Stewart's Greatest Hits" topped the UK chart for a solid five weeks along with U.S. releases consistently soaring up the charts.

Noted for packing stages and making sold-out world wide tours, Stewart also became known for romancing some of the world's most beautiful women. On 3/05/1975 he met actress Britt Ekland in Hollywood and began a highly publicized romance. In 1978 he met Alana Hamilton; they married on 4/6/1979 and had two kids, Kimberly in 1979 and Sean in 1980. They divorced in 1983. In May 1989 she applied for an increase in alimony.

On 4/26/1982, he was mugged in Los Angeles while standing next to his car. In an unfortunate display of rock-concert mania, 450 fans were injured trying to rush the stage at a concert in Monterey, CA on 4/08/1989. On 6/03/1989 he cancelled a gig because of voice problems, but resumed his schedule a few weeks later. He made a habit of selectively canceling engagements whenever he had a bad throat. A soccer fan, his habit of kicking soccer balls into the audience rebounded several times. On 1/16/1990, a fan brought a lawsuit, saying that he fractured a kneecap at a concert on 4/22/1989 due to being run over by fans catching a ball, and on 11/13/1990, another fan filed a suit for rupturing a tendon in her finger for the same cause at a concert on 6/22/1990: she was awarded a $17,000 settlement. His dad died in September 1990.

In 1990, Stewart broke up with Kelly Emberg, his girl friend of the past five years and the mother of their three-year old daughter, Ruby, On 2/15/1990, she filed a $25 million palimony suit in Los Angeles. He soon found another gorgeous partner, New Zealand model Rachel Hunter, 21. They married on 12/15/1990, Beverly Hills, CA and renewed their vows in London in 1995. They have four children starting with daughter Renee on 6/02/1992, London. They separated on 1/07/1999, claiming that Rachel needed to "find herself."

In 1991 Stewart was performing to sell-out crowds of 50,000, breaking house records and bringing in box-offices of over one-and-a-half million.

On 5/12/2000, after finishing his album, "Human," Stewart had surgery on his thyroid after doctors discovered a nodule. He went home with a clean bill of health.

The singer's wife, Rachel Hunter, filed for divorce in Los Angeles on June 16, 2003 in Los Angeles but later withdrew the request. The couple split in 1999. On June 2, 2005, the musician filed for divorce from Hunter. Stewart is engaged to be married to 34-year-old model Penny Lancaster. The day before he filed for divorce, the rocker and his fiancée announced that they were expecting a baby in early December. That child, a boy, arrived on November 27, 2005 ("early in the morning") according to news reports in London. The singer married Penelope Lancaster on June 16, 2007 at 10 AM in Santa Margherita, Liguria, Italy.